Dispatcher servlet initialization process

generalization

Dispatcher Servlet is essentially a Servlet, so it is scheduled according to the Servlet life cycle.

Initialize WebApplicationContext

HttpServlet does not override the init method

Class: org.springframework.web.servlet.FrameworkServlet

protected WebApplicationContext initWebApplicationContext() {
		WebApplicationContext rootContext =
				WebApplicationContextUtils.getWebApplicationContext(getServletContext());
		WebApplicationContext wac = null;

		if (this.webApplicationContext != null) {
			// A context instance was injected at construction time -> use it
			wac = this.webApplicationContext;
			if (wac instanceof ConfigurableWebApplicationContext) {
				ConfigurableWebApplicationContext cwac = (ConfigurableWebApplicationContext) wac;
				if (!cwac.isActive()) {
					// The context has not yet been refreshed -> provide services such as
					// setting the parent context, setting the application context id, etc
					if (cwac.getParent() == null) {
						// The context instance was injected without an explicit parent -> set
						// the root application context (if any; may be null) as the parent
						cwac.setParent(rootContext);
					}
					configureAndRefreshWebApplicationContext(cwac);
				}
			}
		}
		if (wac == null) {
			// No context instance was injected at construction time -> see if one
			// has been registered in the servlet context. If one exists, it is assumed
			// that the parent context (if any) has already been set and that the
			// user has performed any initialization such as setting the context id
			wac = findWebApplicationContext();
		}
		if (wac == null) {
			// No context instance is defined for this servlet -> create a local one
			wac = createWebApplicationContext(rootContext);
		}

		if (!this.refreshEventReceived) {
			// Either the context is not a ConfigurableApplicationContext with refresh
			// support or the context injected at construction time had already been
			// refreshed -> trigger initial onRefresh manually here.
			synchronized (this.onRefreshMonitor) {
				onRefresh(wac);
			}
		}

		if (this.publishContext) {
			// Publish the context as a servlet context attribute.
			String attrName = getServletContextAttributeName();
			getServletContext().setAttribute(attrName, wac);
		}

		return wac;
	}

Create WebApplicationContext

Class: org.springframework.web.servlet.FrameworkServlet

protected WebApplicationContext createWebApplicationContext(@Nullable ApplicationContext parent) {
		Class<?> contextClass = getContextClass();
		if (!ConfigurableWebApplicationContext.class.isAssignableFrom(contextClass)) {
			throw new ApplicationContextException(
					"Fatal initialization error in servlet with name '" + getServletName() +
					"': custom WebApplicationContext class [" + contextClass.getName() +
					"] is not of type ConfigurableWebApplicationContext");
		}
		ConfigurableWebApplicationContext wac =
				(ConfigurableWebApplicationContext) BeanUtils.instantiateClass(contextClass);

		wac.setEnvironment(getEnvironment());
		wac.setParent(parent);
		String configLocation = getContextConfigLocation();
		if (configLocation != null) {
			wac.setConfigLocation(configLocation);
		}
		configureAndRefreshWebApplicationContext(wac);

		return wac;
	}

Dispatcher servlet initialization policy

Class: org.springframework.web.servlet.DispatcherServlet

protected void initStrategies(ApplicationContext context) {
  initMultipartResolver(context);
  initLocaleResolver(context);
  initThemeResolver(context);
  initHandlerMappings(context);
  initHandlerAdapters(context);
  initHandlerExceptionResolvers(context);
  initRequestToViewNameTranslator(context);
  initViewResolvers(context);
  initFlashMapManager(context);
}

DispatcherServlet calls the component to process the request

processRequest()

Class: org.springframework.web.servlet.FrameworkServlet

protected final void processRequest(HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response)
			throws ServletException, IOException {

		long startTime = System.currentTimeMillis();
		Throwable failureCause = null;

		LocaleContext previousLocaleContext = LocaleContextHolder.getLocaleContext();
		LocaleContext localeContext = buildLocaleContext(request);

		RequestAttributes previousAttributes = RequestContextHolder.getRequestAttributes();
		ServletRequestAttributes requestAttributes = buildRequestAttributes(request, response, previousAttributes);

		WebAsyncManager asyncManager = WebAsyncUtils.getAsyncManager(request);
		asyncManager.registerCallableInterceptor(FrameworkServlet.class.getName(), new RequestBindingInterceptor());

		initContextHolders(request, localeContext, requestAttributes);

		try {
			doService(request, response);
		}
		catch (ServletException | IOException ex) {
			failureCause = ex;
			throw ex;
		}
		catch (Throwable ex) {
			failureCause = ex;
			throw new NestedServletException("Request processing failed", ex);
		}

		finally {
			resetContextHolders(request, previousLocaleContext, previousAttributes);
			if (requestAttributes != null) {
				requestAttributes.requestCompleted();
			}
			logResult(request, response, failureCause, asyncManager);
			publishRequestHandledEvent(request, response, startTime, failureCause);
		}
	}

doService()

Class: org.springframework.web.servlet.DispatcherServlet

@Override
	protected void doService(HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response) throws Exception {
		logRequest(request);

		// Keep a snapshot of the request attributes in case of an include,
		// to be able to restore the original attributes after the include.
		Map<String, Object> attributesSnapshot = null;
		if (WebUtils.isIncludeRequest(request)) {
			attributesSnapshot = new HashMap<>();
			Enumeration<?> attrNames = request.getAttributeNames();
			while (attrNames.hasMoreElements()) {
				String attrName = (String) attrNames.nextElement();
				if (this.cleanupAfterInclude || attrName.startsWith(DEFAULT_STRATEGIES_PREFIX)) {
					attributesSnapshot.put(attrName, request.getAttribute(attrName));
				}
			}
		}

		// Make framework objects available to handlers and view objects.
		request.setAttribute(WEB_APPLICATION_CONTEXT_ATTRIBUTE, getWebApplicationContext());
		request.setAttribute(LOCALE_RESOLVER_ATTRIBUTE, this.localeResolver);
		request.setAttribute(THEME_RESOLVER_ATTRIBUTE, this.themeResolver);
		request.setAttribute(THEME_SOURCE_ATTRIBUTE, getThemeSource());

		if (this.flashMapManager != null) {
			FlashMap inputFlashMap = this.flashMapManager.retrieveAndUpdate(request, response);
			if (inputFlashMap != null) {
				request.setAttribute(INPUT_FLASH_MAP_ATTRIBUTE, Collections.unmodifiableMap(inputFlashMap));
			}
			request.setAttribute(OUTPUT_FLASH_MAP_ATTRIBUTE, new FlashMap());
			request.setAttribute(FLASH_MAP_MANAGER_ATTRIBUTE, this.flashMapManager);
		}

		RequestPath requestPath = null;
		if (this.parseRequestPath && !ServletRequestPathUtils.hasParsedRequestPath(request)) {
			requestPath = ServletRequestPathUtils.parseAndCache(request);
		}

		try {
                        //Processing requests and responses
			doDispatch(request, response);
		}
		finally {
			if (!WebAsyncUtils.getAsyncManager(request).isConcurrentHandlingStarted()) {
				// Restore the original attribute snapshot, in case of an include.
				if (attributesSnapshot != null) {
					restoreAttributesAfterInclude(request, attributesSnapshot);
				}
			}
			if (requestPath != null) {
				ServletRequestPathUtils.clearParsedRequestPath(request);
			}
		}
	}

doDispatch()

Class: org.springframework.web.servlet.DispatcherServlet
Handles the actual scheduling of the handler. The handler is obtained by sequentially applying the servlet's HandlerMappings. The HandlerAdapter will find the first one that supports the handler class by querying the HandlerAdapters installed by the servlet. All HTTP methods are handled by this method. It is up to the HandlerAdapters or the handler to decide which methods are acceptable.

protected void doDispatch(HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response) throws Exception {
    HttpServletRequest processedRequest = request;
    HandlerExecutionChain mappedHandler = null;
    boolean multipartRequestParsed = false;

    WebAsyncManager asyncManager = WebAsyncUtils.getAsyncManager(request);

    try {
        ModelAndView mv = null;
        Exception dispatchException = null;

        try {
            processedRequest = checkMultipart(request);
            multipartRequestParsed = (processedRequest != request);

            // Determine handler for the current request.
            /*
            	mappedHandler: Call chain
                Including handler, interceptorList, interceptorIndex
            	handler: The controller method that matches the request sent by the browser
            	interceptorList: A collection of all interceptors that handle controller methods
            	interceptorIndex: Interceptor index, which controls the execution of interceptor afterCompletion()
            */
            mappedHandler = getHandler(processedRequest);
            if (mappedHandler == null) {
                noHandlerFound(processedRequest, response);
                return;
            }

            // Determine handler adapter for the current request.
           	// Create the corresponding processor adapter through the controller method and call the corresponding controller method
            HandlerAdapter ha = getHandlerAdapter(mappedHandler.getHandler());

            // Process last-modified header, if supported by the handler.
            String method = request.getMethod();
            boolean isGet = "GET".equals(method);
            if (isGet || "HEAD".equals(method)) {
                long lastModified = ha.getLastModified(request, mappedHandler.getHandler());
                if (new ServletWebRequest(request, response).checkNotModified(lastModified) && isGet) {
                    return;
                }
            }
			
            // Call the interceptor's preHandle()
            if (!mappedHandler.applyPreHandle(processedRequest, response)) {
                return;
            }

            // Actually invoke the handler.
            // The processor adapter calls the specific controller method to obtain the ModelAndView object
            mv = ha.handle(processedRequest, response, mappedHandler.getHandler());

            if (asyncManager.isConcurrentHandlingStarted()) {
                return;
            }

            applyDefaultViewName(processedRequest, mv);
            // Call postHandle() of interceptor
            mappedHandler.applyPostHandle(processedRequest, response, mv);
        }
        catch (Exception ex) {
            dispatchException = ex;
        }
        catch (Throwable err) {
            // As of 4.3, we're processing Errors thrown from handler methods as well,
            // making them available for @ExceptionHandler methods and other scenarios.
            dispatchException = new NestedServletException("Handler dispatch failed", err);
        }
        // Subsequent processing: processing model data and rendering views
        processDispatchResult(processedRequest, response, mappedHandler, mv, dispatchException);
    }
    catch (Exception ex) {
        triggerAfterCompletion(processedRequest, response, mappedHandler, ex);
    }
    catch (Throwable err) {
        triggerAfterCompletion(processedRequest, response, mappedHandler,
                               new NestedServletException("Handler processing failed", err));
    }
    finally {
        if (asyncManager.isConcurrentHandlingStarted()) {
            // Instead of postHandle and afterCompletion
            if (mappedHandler != null) {
                mappedHandler.applyAfterConcurrentHandlingStarted(processedRequest, response);
            }
        }
        else {
            // Clean up any resources used by a multipart request.
            if (multipartRequestParsed) {
                cleanupMultipart(processedRequest);
            }
        }
    }
}

private void processDispatchResult(HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response,
                                   @Nullable HandlerExecutionChain mappedHandler, @Nullable ModelAndView mv,
                                   @Nullable Exception exception) throws Exception {

    boolean errorView = false;

    if (exception != null) {
        if (exception instanceof ModelAndViewDefiningException) {
            logger.debug("ModelAndViewDefiningException encountered", exception);
            mv = ((ModelAndViewDefiningException) exception).getModelAndView();
        }
        else {
            Object handler = (mappedHandler != null ? mappedHandler.getHandler() : null);
            mv = processHandlerException(request, response, handler, exception);
            errorView = (mv != null);
        }
    }

    // Did the handler return a view to render?
    if (mv != null && !mv.wasCleared()) {
        // Processing model data and rendering views
        render(mv, request, response);
        if (errorView) {
            WebUtils.clearErrorRequestAttributes(request);
        }
    }
    else {
        if (logger.isTraceEnabled()) {
            logger.trace("No view rendering, null ModelAndView returned.");
        }
    }

    if (WebAsyncUtils.getAsyncManager(request).isConcurrentHandlingStarted()) {
        // Concurrent handling started during a forward
        return;
    }

    if (mappedHandler != null) {
        // Exception (if any) is already handled..
        // Call the interceptor's afterCompletion()
        mappedHandler.triggerAfterCompletion(request, response, null);
    }
}

Execution process of dispatcher Servlet

1: The request is sent by the client. It reaches the DispatcherServlet class, which is Spring's default front-end controller.
2: The dispatcher servlet uses the request handler mapping to discover the controller that will analyze the request. The implementation of org.springframework.web.servlet.HandlerMapping returns the instance org.springframework.web.servlet.HandlerExecutionChain class. This example contains a handler blocker array that can be called before or after the controller is invoked. If HandlerExecutionChain is not found in all defined handler mappings, it means that Spring cannot match the URL to the corresponding controller. An error is thrown.
3: Now the system applies the pre interceptor and invokes the controller found by the handler map. After the request controller processes the request, the dispatcher servlet applies all defined interceptors. At the end of this step, it receives the ModelAndView instance from the controller.
4: The dispatcher servlet now uses the name of the view and sends it to the view parser. The parser will determine what the client should see on the screen. Next, it returns this view to the dispatcher servlet, where it can apply an interceptor defined as "callable after view generation".
5: Finally, the view is rendered as a response to the initial client request.